ISPSW Strategy Series: Focus on Defense and International Security Issue Russian Media in Germany No. 766 How Russian information warfare and disinformation have affected Germany June 2021 Dr Susanne Spahn Russian Media in Germany How Russian information warfare and disinformation have affected Germany Dr. Susanne Spahn June 2021 Abstract Germany is the main focus of Russian disinformation campaigns in the EU. As intern documents of the Russian president’s former adviser, Vladislav Surkov show the hybrid warfare is being organized by the Russian leadership as well as the control of the main media outlets including the foreign broadcaster RT. The Russian state media based in Berlin not only try to spread Russian narratives on controversial issues such as the Ukraine conflict but also influence elections on a regional, federal and European level. As documented below RT Deutsch und Sputnik continuously supported the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany and The Left. Members of Parliament of these party back Russian policy by travelling to hot spots of Russian interference in Syria and Ukraine. These travels are being covered by Russian state media extensively. This sort of media alliance helps to legitimate Russian foreign policy, whereas MPs try to increase their popularity among the German audience. About ISPSW The Institute for Strategic, Political, Security and Economic Consultancy (ISPSW) is a private institute for research and consultancy. The ISPSW is an objective, task-oriented and politically non-partisan institute. In the increasingly complex international environment of globalized economic processes and worldwide political, ecological, social and cultural change, which presents both major opportunities and risks, decision- makers in the economic and political arena depend more than ever before on the advice of highly qualified experts. ISPSW offers a range of services, including strategic analyses, security consultancy, executive coaching and intercultural competency. ISPSW publications examine a wide range of topics connected with politics, the economy, international relations, and security/ defense. ISPSW network experts have held executive positions – in some cases for decades – and have dispensed advice in a wide range of fields. © Institut für Strategie- Politik- Sicherheits- und Wirtschaftsberatung ISPSW Giesebrechtstr. 9 Tel +49 (0)30 88 91 89 05 E-Mail: [email protected] 10629 Berlin Fax +49 (0)30 88 91 89 06 Website: http://www.ispsw.de Germany 1 ISPSW Strategy Series: Focus on Defense and International Security Issue Russian Media in Germany No. 766 How Russian information warfare and disinformation have affected Germany June 2021 Dr Susanne Spahn Analysis 1 Information as a weapon Information has always been used as a weapon to deceive the enemy during military or political conflicts. Deliberately misleading false information is called disinformation1. Digitisation makes the spread of disinformation a global problem. It is attributed to concrete persons, media, or countries. While connections to American President Donald Trump and Fox News are often cited, countries like China, Iran and Russia are now becoming the focus of attention2. In this article we will study the specifics of the disinformation spread by the Russian media in Germany. The information policy of the Russian government is part of its hybrid warfare, which has a whole repertoire of methods. These subversive instruments are being used against Ukraine, against pro-Western former Soviet republics, and against the West in general. Thanks to discoveries by a Ukrainian group of hackers in the correspondence of Vladislav Surkov, a high-ranking official of the Russian presidency, we have learned about the methods of influencing foreign countries. These methods include media, soft power and PR, as well as economic pressure, protests, and military actions3. Russian tools in Western Europe include espionage, information warfare, cyberattacks, influence on elections, and the assassination of opponents of the regime, such as former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko and the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in 20184. Russia's leadership is experiencing an ongoing Cold War, as President Vladimir Putin emphasized in his speech to Parliament in 20145. The conflict in Ukraine has served as a spark to inflame new tensions with Western Europe over the Kremlin's conflict with international law. In order to steer public opinion abroad towards its interpretation of these events, a global media offensive by Sputnik International and RT was launched6. By examining this conflict, it became clear how Russia uses information and the media as weapons. Russia assesses Ukraine's association with the EU and cooperation with NATO as strongly undesirable. In the eyes of the Russian government, the United States and its allies have pursued a policy of separating Ukraine and other post-Soviet republics from Russia and placing the region under American influence. Just as the United States once wanted the destruction of the Soviet Union, now they want the disintegration of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, told Ruskaya Gazeta. Political changes in Ukraine are being interpreted as a "coup" with US support, said Patrushev in October 20147. Political decision makers in Russia have discussed strategies for this new phase of the information war since early 2013. The Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, spoke about the growing importance of non- military means, "which in many cases are more effective than military means". They are complemented by undercover military operations such as intelligence operations, special operations, and exploiting the proclivity to protest in the population8. The media occupy a particularly important place among non-military means. Abroad, the news are aimed primarily at US activities that call into question Russia's position as a world power. The RT channel should "break the monopoly of the Anglo-American media", according to Putin9. The international news agency Rossiya Segodnya and the RT channel represent the two pillars of Russian journalism abroad10 and have similar tasks. The Russian media abroad want to achieve in their sense “an objective perception in the world”. At the same time, the influence on public opinion abroad is openly defined as a goal, as set out in the Concept for Russia's Foreign Policy in 201311. Leading media © Institut für Strategie- Politik- Sicherheits- und Wirtschaftsberatung ISPSW Giesebrechtstr. 9 Tel +49 (0)30 88 91 89 05 E-Mail: [email protected] 10629 Berlin Fax +49 (0)30 88 91 89 06 Website: http://www.ispsw.de Germany 2 ISPSW Strategy Series: Focus on Defense and International Security Issue Russian Media in Germany No. 766 How Russian information warfare and disinformation have affected Germany June 2021 Dr Susanne Spahn figures emphasize that they are in state of media war: editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan of RT defines the media, which is run by the Kremlin's "Ministry of Defence", as a "weapon just like any other"12. This hybrid warfare is organised and controlled mainly by the presidential administration in Moscow. Detailed information about the operational side of this activity was revealed by the e-mails of President Putin's personal adviser Vladislav Surkov13, "intercepted" by the Ukrainian hacker group "Cyber Alliance" in 2016 and 2017. He has long been the ideologue of Russia's domestic policy and is considered the creator of the concept of "guided democracy". As the chief ideologue and "father of Russian PR" in the decades since 2000, he was considered the second most influential man in the country. He placed the leading Russian media under state control. After 2014, Surkov was also Putin's personal adviser on the occupied territories of Ukraine and Georgia. The Chechen-born political expert is believed to be the organiser of the invasion of eastern Ukraine. He personally monitored the separatists over the phone, as documented by Surkov's photo of fighters from Donbas14. As an "architect of Russian policy in Ukraine," he participated in the Normandy Format talks and accompanied Putin on visits to Western Europe, although he was on the list of people subjected to US and EU sanctions15. The leak of emails from Surkov and his associates became known as the "Surkov Leaks". The authenticity of these emails has been confirmed by their recipients and verified by the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the American think tank Atlantic Council16. This hybrid warfare is related to the notorious "covert operations" of political military action during the Soviet era. These targeted operations are the KGB's attempts to discredit the enemy in the eyes of the international community. Disinformation was already used in Soviet times; the use of modern technologies is the only novelty. The leaked e-mails show in detail the project to destabilise Ukraine: Russian military intelligence officers, the GRU, and local pro-Russian forces are brought into position. With the help of the media, provocateurs, paid protesters, and violent actions, the entire south- eastern part of the country was destabilised. The aim was the Balkanization of Ukraine by its disintegration into many territories. Over time, only two "people's republics", namely Luhansk and Donetsk in Donbass, remained under Russian control17. While Surkov conducted the hybrid war in Ukraine and Georgia, another confidant of Putin's presidential administration, Alexei Gromov, worked to control the major national media, in particular,